Current Issues

The Voice for Real Estate (video)

Sec.203(k) Loans OK for Flood-risk Moves

FHA confirms in a letter to NAR and other groups that the Sec. 203 (k) rehabilitation loan program can be used by home owners in flood-risk areas to move or raise their home to avoid flood damage.
For more info contact: Megan Booth | 202.383.1222

Flood Insurance Info

DeKalb County Inefficient Plumbing Fixtures Replacement Plan

On February 5, 2008, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners adopted an ordinance that affects transactions of every property in unincorporated areas of the county on which there is a building constructed before January 1, 1993.

The purpose of the ordinance is to require that all plumbing fixtures on the property be certified as “low-flow” or water-conserving fixtures before the buyer of the property can receive water service. If a qualifying property does not contain low-flow fixtures, then the fixtures must be replaced or retrofitted to be low-flow (hence, the term “retrofit at resale”). This ordinance is for residential properties.

Georgia Association of REALTORS® attorney Seth Weissman has prepared a white paper explaining the ordinance, and the GAR Forms Committee has developed a disclosure exhibit that can be used by agents involved in a transaction in DeKalb County. DeKalb County has also promulgated several forms.